Saw this 1960 Thunderbird after the firestorm....

[keiser31]

Took a walk through our little, burned up town and spotted this 1960 Thunderbird. Life goes on after the firestorm.

Edited September 19, 2020 by keiser31 (see edit history)

[zepher]

Good to see life is coming around up there.

 

You know, T-Birds of that era got a really bad rap for a lot of years.

They were cast aside and never really considered worth collecting but I have always liked their chrome excess.

I don't know why, but they have always looked good to me, especially the convertibles.

[W_Higgins]

All the good stuff in 1960 came out of Wixom!

 

Edited September 19, 2020 by W_Higgins (see edit history)

[padgett]

I've always liked the square-birds, mother had a '58. Problem is finding one that has not had some noxious liquid spilled in the console speaker.

Edited September 19, 2020 by padgett (see edit history)

[JamesR]

So sorry for your town, Keiser31! Again, many prayers to you folks.

 

Somehow a Thunderbird rising up through the ashes is a great symbol, though. Not trying to be flippant or trivialize the loss. Best wishes to you all.

 

PS> I should also say, let me/us know if there's anything you need that we can send up to you. Seriously.

Edited September 19, 2020 by JamesR (see edit history)

[JamesR]

1 hour ago, W_Higgins said:

All the good stuff in 1960 came out of Wixom!

 

 

 

Wow, they built T-Birds and Lincolns on the SAME LINE DURING THE SAME DAY?? Amazing. I thought they tried that with Edsel and decided it didn't work well.

[58L-Y8]

Wixom was initially set-up as an exclusively unit-body assembly plant, the '58 Thunderbirds and Lincolns the only products planned to build there.  The 1958 Lincolns were changed to unit-body construction specifically to fill out the volume in conjunction with Thunderbird.  Lincolns were selling in relatively low-volumes throughout the 1950's, 1956-'57 the exception.   Because there was still a mix of high and lower content Lincolns and Thunderbirds offered at the time, what might be shown in this image are Lincolns and Thunderbirds with little more than the minimum standard equipment built at a higher units-per-hour and lower labor content rate.  Typically, higher optioned cars were built in groups to allow a lower cars-per-hour build rate and higher labor content.

 

Unit-body construction was viewed as the wave of the future, and seem to hold promise for more rigid body structures at lighter overall weight.  While those qualities have been realized in the age of computer modeling and digital analysis, sixty plus years ago, it was slide-rules plus a healthy dash of gut-hunches.  As the proposed '58 Lincoln grew larger, the advantages of unit-construction diminished, resulting in heavier than comparably-sized Bond-on-Frame cars.

[Buffalowed Bill]

John,

 

Thank's for the TBird photo. It kind of symbolizes your return. 

 

John's return should not be read as a return to normal. There are scores of fires burning. Some welcome rain, in some areas, but with it came some lightning. Whack-a-mole continues, as thin tired resources move from place to place. The end of the fire season is still weeks to months away.

[W_Higgins]

19 minutes ago, 58L-Y8 said:

Wixom was initially set-up as an exclusively unit-body assembly plant, the '58 Thunderbirds and Lincolns the only products planned to build there.

 

A '58 Continental with a small flock of Birds off to the left.

[keiser31]

1 hour ago, Buffalowed Bill said:

John,

 

Thank's for the TBird photo. It kind of symbolizes your return. 

 

John's return should not be read as a return to normal. There are scores of fires burning. Some welcome rain, in some areas, but with it came some lightning. Whack-a-mole continues, as thin tired resources move from place to place. The end of the fire season is still weeks to months away.

Yeah....my walk around town is completely different now as I see all of the folks who lost everything.